Truth is in the Eye of the Beholder
by Miss Malice 202
Summary: Following a tragic life-threatening battle injury, Sakura's world is turned upside-down when a rash decision replaces her eyes with Itachi Uchiha's. Now gifted with the sharingan and a point of view never before imagined, Sakura teams up with Sasuke, not only to control her new power, but decipher the cryptic visions Itachi left behind.
1. Chapter 1: An Unexpected Encounter

First off, I would like to say "Thank you" for taking the time to read my story. This is my first attempt at writing pretty much anything, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I've been thinking about this story for the past few months and only just recently gathered enough courage to actually write it out. So, again, thank you for giving me a chance to share my thoughts with you.

Truth in the Eye of the Beholder:

Summary: After a tragic battle injury has rendered Sakura blind and in mortal danger, a rash decision to implant recently deceased Itachi Uchiha's eyes into Sakura's skull, gifting her not only with the gift of the sharingan, but also an unexpected insight into how Itachi saw the world around him... literally.

Forced to turn to her ex-teammate and general pain in the ass for help controlling her new power, Sasuke in turn learns through Sakura's eyes that appearances can be deceiving. Can Sakura convince Sasuke that the truth is in the eye of the beholder, or will past conspiracies bury that truth forever?

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Encounter

Floating along on a wave of darkness, Sakura could feel herself slowly rising up from its depths. As a trained mednin, she knew that the first thing she should do was run a quick diagnostic on herself to check for any abnormalities or injuries, but her mind was still far too clouded to think clearly.

Reaching out with her senses as she seemed to settle into her own body again, Sakura realized a few things. The first of which was that everything was dark. It wasn't the darkness of having her eyes closed, for there wasn't even a faint filtering of light permeating her eyelids. This was an all-consuming darkness of being blinded. Feeling a slight panic at the prospect of losing her sight, Sakura had to remind herself that her teacher was the best medical kunoichi in the world. Even if something horrible had happened to Sakura's vision, she was sure that her master could fix it. Taking a deep, calming breath, she continued to take stock of her current situation.

The second thing she realized was that she was laying in a hospital bed. She could tell it was a hospital bed, not only from the distinct smell of disinfectant and lemon-scented cleaner that was used for the floors, or from the rhythmic beeping coming from the heart monitor positioned at the right side of her head, but from how horribly uncomfortable the mattress she was laying on was. _I'll have to talk to Tsunade about this. How can we expect our patients to heal if the beds are killing them._

Now that she was awake enough to take stock of her surroundings, Sakura began focusing on her own status. Slowly summoning chakra to her hands to run a diagnostic scan, she felt a searing pain rip through her skull, radiating from her eyes. Screaming in agony, she clutched her face and it was only then that she realized that she had bindings covering her eyes. She knew they had to be there for a reason, but instinctually she lurched upright and began clawing at them in an attempt to free herself from the darkness.

Suddenly, she heard her hospital room door whoosh open with a slam and the rapid, no-nonsense sound of her teacher's sandals clicking on the linoleum floor.

"Sakura! You're awake! It's about damn time, if you ask me." The smoky tone of Tsunade's voice was tinged with worry, but it made a smile creep up on Sakura's face.

The brisk clicking continued as Tsunade walked around Sakura's hospital bed to check her vital signs.

"Shishou, what happened?" Sakura asked apprehensively, hands fisted tightly around the paper-thin blanket covering her lap. She was afraid to ask, but knew that she was only delaying the inevitable by attempting to avoid this conversation.

She could hear fabric rustling as her teacher shifted, presumably crossing her arms under her overly well-endowed chest. "That's what I'd like to know, Sakura." She could feel her bed shift as Tsunade sat down by her hip. "What do you remember?" she carefully asked.

With that simple question, Sakura's fragmented memories began shifting back into place. "I remember being on a mission with Team Kakashi and Team Eight to apprehend Itachi Uchiha and attempt to bring Sasuke back," Sakura began.

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Standing on the roof of the building that Kakashi determined would be their central base of operations while searching for Itachi and Sasuke, Sakura looked down at the ninken appointed to be her temporary, furry teammates. The grey one wasn't so bad, but the tan furred dog had already insulted her and they hadn't even been teamed up for five minutes yet. Sighing as she accepted her fate, Sakura turned to Kakashi as he set out the mission objectives. Their priority was locating Itachi and Sasuke's scents and they prohibited from engaging them in combat. Sakura knew that if anyone got close enough to Sasuke for his scent to be identified, he would turn tail and run, avoiding the Leaf shinobi until his objective – the death of Itachi Uchiha – was completed. Sakura vowed to herself that despite Kakashi's warnings, if her team managed to find Sasuke, she would do everything in her power to stall him until reinforcements could arrive.

Walking through the woods, waiting for any sign from the ninja hounds that they had detected anything from the Uchiha brothers, Sakura was forced to listen to Biscuit, the annoying little brown-furred mutt, lecture her to play hard to get because boys don't like being chased. _Doesn't he realize that our mission is to do exactly that? The whole reason we're out here is to chase Sasuke. Stupid mutt._

Suddenly sniffing the ground, Biscuit told Sakura, "It's faint, but I can detect Sasuke's scent."

"Seriously?!" Sakura bounded down the path, chasing after her new favorite ninja hound. _Finally we're catching a break. Finally we can bring Sasuke home._

Racing down the path, the ninken and Sakura approached a town. "It's here. I can smell Sasuke here. It's moving, but it's close. Can you see him, Sakura, or sense his chakra?" Biscuit asked.

As Sakura frantically scaned the crowd, praying for a glimpse of her ex-teammate, she began thinking about her next move. What would she do if she found Sasuke in this town? It's far too crowded for a full on battle between her and Sasuke, there's too much of a risk of innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfires and getting hurt. But there was absolutely no way that Sasuke would just agree to come with her. Trading blows was inevitable no matter how Sakura thought about it.

Dragged out of her contemplations by a sharp tug on her cloak as Shiba, her gray-furred ninken partner, yanks on it, Sakura realized that she had been leaving herself wide open to attack by not paying attention to her surroundings. _Forget engaging Sasuke in battle. If I don't shape up, he'll just kill me where I stand before I would even realize what hit me. Stupid, rookie mistake, Sakura._

"Well, Sakura? Can you sense Sasuke close by at all?" Shiba asked.

Sakura kept silent as they continued down the main road, still desperately searching for any clue to Sasuke's location.

"It's no good. It's fading fast now." Shiba sighed in resignation as the trail grows cold once more.

Sakura and the ninken thoroughly searched the town, but no sign of Sasuke was found. Resigned, they leave and begin combing the surrounding woods, but to no avail. Sasuke's scent had vanished in the wind.

After determining that Sasuke is nowhere in their vicinity, Sakura and the ninken decided to head back to the central command center to report their findings – or lack thereof. But before she could take a single step, a huge explosion was heard, the blast sending Sakura's hair flying in the wind even from a distance.

"What was that?" Biscuit exclaimed. The amount of chakra contained in the blast was enough to set his fur standing on end.

"I have no idea, but we'd better check it out and make sure there's no casualties," Sakura decided.

As they raced towards the explosion, Biscuit calls out, "I've got it! I can smell Sasuke's scent. It's strong, and getting stronger. Whatever that blast was, Sasuke's definitely involved."

With hope blossoming in her heart once again, Sakura raced through the treetops, praying that she isn't too late.

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Looking across the now barren field and down into the massive crater left behind, Sakura could feel despair begin to devour her. There was just no way anyone could survive being caught in an explosion of this magnitude. With tears welling in her eyes, she looked down at her partners and asked, "Well? Can you smell anything? Any traces of Sasuke?"

Shiba shook his head and gently said, "He was definitely here, Sakura. This place is covered in his smell, but it ends here. There's no scent trail leading away from this crater. I think whatever happened here, Sasuke got caught up in it."

Doing her best to stifle a sob, Sakura shook her head. "No. I refuse to believe he's gone. Try sniffing harder. Maybe you're missing something. Sasuke's too smart and too powerful to let something like a little explosion take him down."

"'A little explosion'?" Biscuit barked incredulously, "Did you not see the size of that blast? The thing lit up the sky like a supernova, and you call it 'a little explosion'. You seriously need to get your head exami-"

"Wait a second! I've got something!" Shiba hastily interrupts Biscuit's tirade. "I can smell snake. A big one, too."

"Snakes?" Sakura pondered. "Hang on, what if Sasuke signed a summoning contract with snakes? After all, he _was_ Orochimaru's apprentice and everyone knows that Orochimaru was a snake master."

"Makes sense," Biscuit agreed. "Maybe he summoned a big snake to act as a buffer to the explosion."

Sniffing the air again, Biscuit caught a whiff of something he hadn't smelled when they first arrived at the scene of the devastation. "I've got him! He's re-emerged again. He must have summoned the snake, and then used it to transport him somewhere safe." He nodded his furry head in approval. "The kid's definitely smart, I'll give him that."

Sakura could barely contain her excitement. "Can you tell where he is?"

Once again Biscuit nodded. "Yeah, he's back in the direction of that town we were in not too long ago. It doesn't appear that they're moving. I think Sasuke may be injured from his ordeal here and is recuperating there."

"Seriously?" Sakura sighed in exasperation. "We should have just stayed there and saved ourselves the trouble." She giggled as they headed off once again, chasing the ghost of Sasuke's scent.

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Sprinting through the trees as fast as her feet could take her, Sakura prayed with every fiber of her being that they would make it in time. That Sasuke would just freaking stay put for once and let her catch up to him. She was so close to him that she could almost reach out and touch him, and she didn't want this chance to slip through her fingers.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Shiba suddenly yelled from in front of Sakura. "He's on the move again. He's with three other people this time." Shiba sniffed the air again to verify the information being carried to his nose on the wind.

"Seems like your Sasuke has made himself a new team," Biscuit quipped from behind her. "I think he replaced you."

"Shut your mouth, mutt, before I shut it for you," Sakura growled through clenched teeth. "And he's not _my_ Sasuke. He's just a missing Kohona shinobi we're bringing back home. That's all."

Snickering could be heard from all around her as the ninken laughed at her denials. "Sure thing, Sakura. Whatever you have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night." Biscuit raced ahead of her to join Shiba in the front and help pinpoint Sasuke's location.

"Oh, what the hell is this?!" Biscuit muttered to himself as he caught a whiff on the wind that he sincerely hoped was wrong.

"What is it now?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke's scent is dispersing. They're on to us and they're sending Sasuke's scent in multiple directions somehow to throw us off the trail," Biscuit explained.

"Any clue which one is the real Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"No," he responded. "If we're not going to wait for back-up, we're just gonna have to guess and hope we're right."

She sighed in defeat. "Shiba, can you contact the other ninken with our location and the current situation? Tell them we're in pursuit and we'll keep following them until we make contact. We'll keep everyone else updated on our location, but we can't afford to wait for help. Sasuke'll be long gone by the time someone else arrives."

"On it." Shiba began howling as they ran, which was impressive considering he was sprinting as fast as his chakra-enhanced paws could take him.

"Okay," Sakura began, "we'll go after the closest scent signature and hope for the best. If nothing else, it'll eliminate one of the targets so the others don't waste their time with a false lead."

"Got it." Biscuit veered to the right and dove head-first into the foliage. "This way."

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Sakura and her canine teammates skidded to a halt as they finally caught up to their target. Rather than a raven-haired shinobi, standing in front of them, blocking the path, was a crimson-haired kunoichi wearing glasses. As if sensing their approach, she began swaggering toward them with exaggerated hip swaying and a flip of her hair.

"It's about time you guys got here," she sneered. "I thought I would just die of boredom waiting for your slow asses. I thought you were supposed to be a kunoichi. You're just pathetic." She snickered as she strode toward Sakura.

Sakura seethed. Who was this girl who dared say such a thing to her? If there was one thing Sakura couldn't tolerate, it was being called pathetic.

"How dare you." Sakura's blood was boiling, but she still kept her mind clear and focused as she stared the other kunoichi down. "You have no idea just who I am, do you?"

"Ha!" The redhead barked a condescending laugh in the pink-haired girl in front of her. "I don't need to know who you are. It looks to me," she sneered as she looked Sakura over from head to toe, "like you're nothing more than a weak little fangirl, panting after MY Sasuke, playing at being a kunoichi."

 _Oh really?_ Sakura thought to herself. "Fine. You want to play," she asked as she slowly reached into her medic bag strapped to her hip to remove her leather battle gloves, slipping them on with practiced ease, "let's play."

In the space of a single heartbeat, Sakura sprinted toward the girl, right arm drawn back, ready to strike. The kunoichi in front of her raised her guard, but it wouldn't be enough, for Sakura wasn't aiming to her the girl, but instead pounded her fist into the ground, instantly shattering it with her chakra-enhanced strength. Using the resulting dust and falling debris as a diversion, Sakura swiftly withdrew several kunai and threw them at her opponent.

Blinded by the dust in the air, the bespectacled girl felt a blade bite deep into her thigh. Seething with indignation as she clutched the handle of the weapon, she roared, "What the hell was that? How are you so strong? You're not supposed to be this strong!"

Sakura chuckled softly and leapt into the treetops to get a better view of her opponent. She had been warned before the mission started that the ninken she was partnered with were not combatants. If she happened to engage in battle, their orders were to hide and provide support if necessary, so Sakura knew that she was on her own. She watched as the girl ripped the kunai out of her leg, blood already darkening the fabric of her thigh-high socks. Shaking her head at the girl's impractical battle garb, Sakura almost felt a stab of sympathy. Almost.

"Who are you to Sasuke?" Sakura asked as she silently jumped from branch to branch, hiding her presence as best she could. She saw the kunoichi limp as she turned, attempting to locate where Sakura was.

"I'm Sasuke's teammate." Her opponent was holding her leg in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. "He came to me _specifically_ and told me that he _needed_ me."

The emphasis the redhead put on the words caused her stomach to twist. Never once had Sasuke said that he needed her. She knew that he had always considered her to be a burden. Someone to protect. Worthless. _Annoying…_

"You know," Sakura began, "you really should get that taken care of. I nicked your femoral artery. If you don't get that patched up in the next couple of minutes, you'll lose enough blood to lose consciousness and die." She smirked as she watched the girl continue to paw at her leg, trying to slow the bleeding. She dropped out of the treetop she had been perched in and started walking towards the girl. "I'm a mednin and if you agree to allow me to pass, as well as tell me where Sasuke is headed, I'll heal your leg and let you live."

A dark chuckle echoed through the forest. "You'll 'let' me live?" the girl asked with a smirk on her face. She straightened up back and pushed up her glasses more securely on her nose with a hand crimson with her own blood. "You really shouldn't let your guard down when you think you have the upper hand."

Suddenly, the girl flashed through a handful of handsigns and with a yell, a brilliant light blinded Sakura momentarily. Completely blind, she instinctually jumped towards the trees, but it was too late. When the light faded, a cluster of barbed chains burst from the girls back and rushed toward Sakura. Unable to evade the surprise attack, Sakura felt the chains wrap around her torso, binding her arms to her sides and rendering her immobile.

In an attempt to break free from her captivity, Sakura called upon her chakra, only to find it unresponsive. There was something about these chains that was suppressing her chakra network.

"What is this?" Sakura grunted as she attempted to loosen her bindings.

"Those," the kunoichi said as she walked toward Sakura's prone form, "are my Adamantine Chains. They have the power to capture and suppress my victim's chakra so they can't fight back. Aren't they wonderful?" She bent over and pressed a glowing green hand against her injured leg, the wound slowly closing until the only trace of her injury was the blood stain on her skin. "You really should be careful about being too arrogant, Sa-ku-ra…"

Beginning to panic, Sakura frantically searched the area around her, looking for something to aid in her escape. _I've got to stall her. I know Biscuit and Shiba can't fight with me, but they must have already alerted the others of my current location and situation, so I've just got to buy myself some time until help arrives._

"How do you know my name?" she asked. When she first encountered the enemy ninja, the girl had made no indication that she had known who Sakura was, other than an adversary. But the fact that she knew Sakura's name meant something different altogether.

"Oh, believe me, Sasuke's told me _all about you_ ," she giggled. "He told me that while he was stuck in the Leaf village, those morons in charge saddled him with your worthless hide. All you were good for was crying while he did all the work." She stalked closer and gave Sakura a shove.

Off balance due to the chains wrapped around her entire body, Sakura fell backwards with a thud, her head bouncing off the hard-packed earth with a hollow thud. Slightly stunned from the blow, she watched as the redhead loomed over her, feet on opposite sides of her body.

"He also told me about how you sobbed like a pathetic child when he left the village." She crouched down, hovering over Sakura's heaving chest. "Poor Sakura. Pitiful, aren't you? In love with a man who couldn't care less if I murdered you where you lay." Straddling Sakura's chest now, she bent over to whisper in her ear, "It would be _so easy_ too."

Thrashing wildly now in a last ditch effort to get some distance between her and her adversary, Sakura could feel tears welling in her eyes. Her desperation to get away from her enemy was suffocating and she was beginning to hyperventilate.

Cackling hysterically, the girl wrapped her bloodied hand around Sakura's throat. "All I would have to do is squeeze, and it'll be all over for you. All your hard work and training, wasted because you were too full of yourself to take me seriously." She released her neck with a jerk. "But I'm not going to do that. No…. I'm not going to make it that easy for you." She sat back and looked Sakura in the eyes, a malicious glee shining her crimson irises. "You see, I want you to suffer. I want you to feel the agony of knowing you have no hope, no salvation, not a prayer in the world of being saved. Just like I did before Sasuke set me free from Orochimaru's twisted reign."

Sakura watched helplessly as her hand began glowing green, then darkening to a sickly mossy brown color. Eyes wide with apprehension, she watched as that horrifying, glowing hand got closer to her face.

"This is something Orochimaru gave to me. He used me and my healing abilities for his own sick, twisted amusement and in return, he gave me the ability to heal. This is a malignant chakra that he and Kabuto developed just for me." She ran her finger down Sakura's cheek, making her flinch at the contact. "All I have to do is introduce this chakra into your own chakra network and it will rip through you, contaminating you with its corruption until it chokes the life out of you. Pretty nasty if you ask me, but I think it's perfect for a nasty girl like you."

"Please," Sakura pleaded. "Please don't do this…"

"Tough luck, bitch," she sneered. "I'm not a bleeding heart like the rest of you Leaf folk."

And with that, she slammed her palm against Sakura's eyes and immediately she could feel the virulent chakra seeping into her pupils. The burning sensation that accompanied the invasion was akin to nothing she had ever experienced.

Screaming in agony and writhing in pain, Sakura could feel the infectious chakra making its way slowly deeper into her eyes. She could feel her chakra rotting away. She could feel her cells burning away. She could only _feel._

She suddenly felt the weight on her chest disappear and the chains binding her release. She heard a muttered curse and a rustling of leaves, before the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own screams echoing through the darkness until she lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2: Rash Decisions

Chapter 2: Rash Decisions

With a sigh, Sakura lay her head back down on her pillow after telling her teacher what had happened and waited for Tsunade's tirade to begin. As the silence continued to draw out, Sakura's anxiety only continued to grow. She knew that an explosion from her teacher was not only inevitable, but well deserved. However, the silence was killing her.

"Sakura," Tsunade calmly began, "that was over a week ago."

Sakura's stomach dropped as she absorbed the implications of that simple statement. _A week? I've been out for over a week?_ "How did I end up here? When I passed out, I was alone and that kunoichi had left me for dead."

"Sakura, before we get into that, there are a few things you need to know first."

"Okay…" Sakura was really starting to get worried now. Her teacher was definitely _not_ the most tactful person she knew, so for her to dance around a subject like she was doing now was a serious cause for concern.

"When Kakashi and the rest of the squad found you, the corrupted chakra had already infiltrated your eyes, optic nerves and began seeping into your brain," Tsunade explained slowly. "Hinata attempted to heal you, but she just didn't have the skills to perform such a delicate procedure in the field.

"Kakashi then made the decision to abandon the mission to get you back to the village, and back to me, as swiftly as possible in order to save your life."

Sakura winced at this revelation. They had failed. It was all her fault. She ignored her mission objective and compromised the whole operation. Once again, she had failed miserably. Sasuke was gone again, and now there was no hope of finding him.

"However," Tsunade interrupted her self-flagellation, "as the squad was on it's way back to the village, they encountered two extremely strong chakra signatures. It was determined that they belonged to Itachi and Sasuke. Upon further investigation with Hinata's byakugan, it was revealed that Itachi and Sasuke were locked in fierce battle not far from where you were found. As the team travelled, it was determined that if you all had kept your current direction, the whole squad would intercept the brothers."

Sakura's breath caught. She couldn't dare to hope that somehow, some way, a miracle had occurred to set everything right. Afraid to make a single sound in case she would distract her teacher and she'd stop talking, Sakura held her breath and awaited the rest of the mission report.

"Kakashi made the call to intercept them, sending a secondary team - consisting of Hinata, Sai, and Pakkun – ahead with you to get you here first. However, before your team could split off, Hinata realized that not only was the fight over, but the sole survivor had been rendered unconscious."

"Sole survivor?" Sakura whispered. "Who was it?"

A long silence followed Sakura's whispered question. As the seconds ticked on, her breathing started to quicken. Panic began to grip her as she dreaded her teacher's next words.

"Sasuke. Sasuke finally killed Itachi Uchiha."

Her breath leaving her lungs in one fell swoop, she began to feel light-headed as she tried to wrap her head around that one single name. _Sasuke._ Sasuke survived. Sasuke defeated Itachi. Sasuke finally obtained his goal. He could finally come home.

"Once Hinata relayed the information that Itachi was dead and Sasuke was unconscious, Kakashi once again changed the plan and everyone went to apprehend Sasuke and bring Itachi's body back with you."

"So Sasuke's back? He's in the village? When can I see him?" Sakura couldn't contain her joy. Sasuke was finally home! Her miracle had actually happened.

"That's where things get complicated." Tsunade shifted on the bed and Sakura's back stiffened. "He's currently being held in interrogation until he can provide enough evidence to the council that he has no intention of betraying the village again and that he'd be an asset to keep around, rather than a liability."

Her words put Sakura on edge. "He's in prison? For what? Leaving the village? He just took down not only Itachi Uchiha, enemy of the state number one, but Orochi-freaking-maru, the man responsible for so much destruction and the assassination of the third Hokage." Sakura was vehement in her defense of her old teammate. "Sasuke isn't a criminal, he's a HERO!"

"SAKURA!" Tsunade bellowed, snapping her out of her rabid tirade, "what he has done for the village doesn't negate the fact that he not only abandoned it to begin with, but he attempted to harm shinobi from our village as well."

With a deep sigh, Sakura calmed down a little to allow Tsunade to finish telling her everything that had happened while she had been unconscious.

"Anyway, when Kakashi's squad came upon the battle scene, Itachi was well and truly dead, Sasuke was severely injured and unconscious, and your condition was starting to severely decline. In a rash, heat of the moment decision, Kakashi decided on a course of action that has made my life living hell. The amount of paperwork sitting on my desk because of his stupid impulse is staggering."

Sakura was starting to get scared again. "What did he do?"

With another heavy sigh, Tsunade shifted and grabbed Sakura's right hand. "Sakura, has Kakashi ever told you how he got his sharingan?"

Confused by the sudden change of subject, Sakura could only nod her head in affirmation. "Yes. He told me once that when he was a chuunin, he was on a squad with an Uchiha who was killed. Before his teammate died, he ripped his own eye out and gave it to Kakashi to compensate for the fact that Kakashi had been blinded in one eye due to his teammates careless actions." Sakura paused for a moment. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sakura, Kakashi decided that the only way to save your life was to completely eliminate the invasive chakra corrupting you. The only way to do that was to remove your tainted eyes."

With a sharp gasp, Sakura reached her left hand up to touch the dressings covering her eyes. "You mean I'm blind?" She whispered in despair. Her entire life just shattered. All of her hopes and future aspirations were now scattered to the wind. All of her hard work, all for nothing. Her career as a kunoichi, gone.

"No, Sakura," Tsunade interrupted, "I don't mean you're blind. I mean he replaced your corrupted eyes with ones that were untainted."

Silence descended upon the room as Tsunade allowed Sakura a minute to try to piece together the implications of her words.

"Shishou." Sakura's voice trembled as she asked, "Whose eyes did he replace mine with?"

"Itachi Uchiha's."

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Thanks again for taking the time to read my story. I promise it'll pick up soon and the twists and turns (as well as some good old fashioned sasusaku fluffiness) will begin. please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3: An Annoying Agreement

Chapter 3: An Annoying Agreement

Looking around the concrete walls of the detention cell, Sasuke decided that he was sick and tired of damp rooms underground. Sitting on the edge of the bunk bolted to the wall, with a sigh, he leaned forward to brace his hands under his nose and glare at the bars keeping him in the room. The simple grey shirt and shorts that had been issued to him were stiff and scratchy on his skin, irritating his skin and further souring his already foul mood. He could only assume he was back in Konoha, and if he was to be completely honest with himself, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

In a way, he relieved. He had finally done it. It hadn't been easy, but his brother – and the executioner of his entire clan – was finally dead. It had been a vicious battle, but Sasuke had proven to be the stronger shinobi. He smirked under his hands as he thought about that. For the majority of his life, Sasuke had been considered inferior to his wretched older brother, but now, now he was the strongest Uchiha.

He was also the only Uchiha now.

Dropping his hands to rest between his knees, Sasuke considered the idea of being the only person left in his entire clan. The only person capable of passing on the Sharingan to future generations. He suddenly remembered the day he had been assigned to his genin team. During their introductions, Sasuke had mentioned having two goals: to kill his older brother, and to restore his clan. Now that Itachi was taken care of, his next step should be to begin the restoration.

 _I can't really do that from inside this cell._ Sasuke glared with contempt at the bars one more time.

He knew that the Council of Elders wouldn't execute him for abandoning the village. As the last descendent of the legendary Uchiha clan, his blood was far too valuable to be arbitrarily spilled over his defection. But at the moment, his prospects for freedom seemed bleak. Not only were there bars keeping him in captivity, but wound around his wrists were a set of seals suppressing his chakra. Rubbing at the ink etched into his skin, he huffed, irritated with his circumstances.

With chakra suppression and iron bars keeping him in line, Sasuke decided that he was pretty much at the mercy of the council – for now. Once he gave them what they wanted – which he assumed was information on what he had been doing and where he had been for the past three years – he would be free to work on his next objective.

The only problem with attempting to revive his clan was that he required another person to do just that. A girl. With a grunt of displeasure, Sasuke contemplated the girls that he knew. Or the girls he knew _before_ he became a wanted ninja. None of the girls he knew were remotely close to being acceptable matriarchs to the regeneration of the Uchiha. _Oh well, I guess I'll deal with that problem once I take care of the one I'm in right now._

With nothing but time on his hands while he waited for the interrogation unit to come ask him their questions, he recalled the conversation he had with Itachi during their fight. There was something that Itachi had said that bothered him. Itachi had mentioned that not only was the Mangekyou Sharingan far superior to Sasuke's Sharingan, but it came at a hefty price.

According to what Itachi had said, to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, an Uchiha must kill his best friend. As if that wasn't enough, using the doujutsu caused the wielders "light" to fade. Sasuke assume that meant that the more an Uchiha used the technique, the more he lost his vision.

Suddenly, Sasuke's back stiffened as he made a terrible connection. Itachi had awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan at the age of 13. More than eight years ago. Horrified at the implications, Sasuke realized that if Itachi had even used his Mangekyou Sharingan sparingly – which was doubtful considering the perilous nature his association with the Akatsuki had been – Itachi's vision must have deteriorated drastically in that time. Just how much of his eyesight had been lost, Sasuke didn't know.

Fists clenched now, Sasuke's pride at being the strongest Uchiha warped into bitter resentment. He could never call himself stronger than Itachi. Itachi had been damn near blind during their battle and Sasuke _still_ struggled to beat him. It had taken everything he had to claim that victory, and now, in light of his revelation, he had no right to make the claim that he had been stronger. He hadn't beaten Itachi. Itachi had just happened to lose.

Surging to his feet to pace the confines of his cell, Sasuke's fists clenched tight enough to draw blood. _It just wasn't fair. Nothing I do will ever compare to Itachi…_

The slamming of a heavy, metal door roused Sasuke out of his brooding. Footsteps echoed down the hall as someone approached his cell. _Finally. It's about time we get this over with._

Sasuke turned to gaze at his visitor. His eyes widened slightly as he took in the appearance of his old sensei, but other than that, he betrayed no emotion.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted with his single visible eye crinkled with an apparent grin. "Fancy meeting you here, Sasuke."

Eyes narrowed at the blasé greeting from the silver-haired ANBU operative, Sasuke bit back a scathing reply. "Kakashi. What brings you down here? Surely, you're not here for a visit. I'm not really in the mood."

"Oh, I can imagine that your grand schemes for revenge didn't involve you rotting in a Leaf village prison cell, did they?" Kakashi chuckled as he reached in his pouch to withdraw a very familiar looking orange book. Casually flipping the pages, he found the one he was looking for and gazed at Sasuke over the edge of his book. "I'm here to bring you down to Ibiki for interrogation. If you want my opinion, you'd be better off if you cooperate with him and give the council what they want.

"I don't know if you've realized this, but your actions haven't made you any friends, Sasuke. You'll be hard pressed to avoid permanent incarceration at this rate. You have nothing left to prove, do you?" he ventured as he flipped a page.

"Hn."

"Well, I can see you're still a stellar conversationalist." Kakashi chuckled softly as he stowed his treasured novel back in its pouch. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Weaving through the necessary hand signs, a loud click could be heard as the cell door unlocked and slowly creaked open. Stepping forward, Sasuke extended his hands towards his old teacher, already anticipating his next instructions.

As Kakashi locked a set of shackles around Sasuke's wrists, he stared intently at his student. "Let me ask you something," he ventured. "You've finally gotten your revenge. Was it everything you'd hoped for?"

Sasuke glared at him, offering silence as his only reply.

"I didn't think so."

With those cryptic words, Kakashi led him down the hall, toward the awaiting interrogation.

X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X -X - X - X - X

Back in his cell once again, Sasuke sat on his cot, leaning his back against to cold concrete wall. The interrogation hadn't been as bad as he had anticipated, all things considered. Of course, it's not really necessary to torture someone who's willing to answer questions without hesitation. After all, now that his vengeance had been realized, he had nothing left to lose. He held no loyalty for Orochimaru, and so provided all the information asked of him. Though, if he was honest with himself, it did rankle his pride to be forced into such a disadvantageous position.

In reality, Sasuke had realized that the easiest way to get out of this cell and earn his freedom back was to cooperate with the Leaf village. It was "home" after all.

Eventually, after what seemed to be an eternity passed, he once again heard the tell-tale sound of the door slamming open. Remaining seated where he was, Sasuke waited to hear his sentence.

"Great news."

Sasuke turned his head to glance at his masked visitor. "Spit it out already." He was sick of this cell. He just wanted _out._

"It's been decided that you're not going to be executed," Kakashi quipped.

"…"

"Really, Sasuke? That's it? I'd think you'd be happy to hear that you're not going to die today."

"…" Sasuke continued to stare at him.

With an exasperated sigh, he continued his report. "You really are no fun at all. Anyway, it's been decided that due to your cooperation during interrogation - as well as the invaluable information you've provided on the Sound village and the assassinations of not only Orochimaru, but Itachi Uchiha as well – you've been sentenced to a year of supervised house arrest. You will be staying in an ANBU guarded facility with your chakra sealed, except for during officially sanctioned training and rehabilitation. However," he hesitated, "there is a condition for your release. If you do not agree to cooperate, you will be imprisoned here indefinitely."

Sasuke watched him with suspicion. His sensei was hiding something. Something vital that made him appear extremely uncomfortable. "What's this condition I must agree to?"

Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck to relieve the tension there, Kakashi reluctantly answered. "You won't be staying at the facility alone. While you're staying there, you will be helping with the rehabilitation and training of another shinobi."

"What?" Sasuke's mouth hung open as he absorbed his words. "What do you mean 'rehabilitation'? I'm not a medic. It's not my responsibility to heal some random ninja."

"I know you're not a medic, Sasuke. That's not what we need your help with." He leaned against the wall opposite the bars and crossed his arms over his chest. "Before I get into the details of your 'responsibilities', there's something you need to know. I need you to listen closely and keep your mouth shut until I'm done."

"… Fine," he reluctantly agreed.

"To begin with, the person you're going to be helping isn't some 'random ninja', as you put it. It's someone you know quite well and their condition is a direct result of your actions.

"I'm aware you'd have no way of knowing this, but two weeks ago, a team set out in an attempt to capture Itachi and lure you into a position where we could apprehend you too and bring you back home. During the operation, Sakura was severely injured with a very peculiar injury and we were forced to abandon the mission and bring her back to Lady Tsunade."

Sasuke jolted up on his bunk. Kakashi now had his undivided attention. Something happened to Sakura? It was odd, but for the first time in a very long time, he could clearly remember his pink haired teammate. Before, while he was in Sound, whenever he tried to remember his life in the Leaf, his memories were fuzzy and faded. In fact, when he had encountered his teammates at the ruined Sound base so many months ago, there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him to kill them. To sever the bonds they shared. To put his sentimentality behind him to gain even more power.

Shaking his head to clear his fractured thoughts, he took a deep breath to calm his racing heartbeat.

"She survived," Sasuke guessed.

"Yeah, she's still alive," Kakashi clarifies. "But, there were… complications.

"On our way back to Konoha, we sensed yours and Itachi's chakra. We felt Itachi's disappear, indicating that you had succeeded in killing him. I made the call to intercept you and bring everyone back home. Unfortunately, before that happened, Sakura's condition took a turn for the worse and I was forced to make a decision."

"And what would that be?"

"I was forced to perform an emergency procedure to save her life. I made the decision to replace her eyes with those of someone who didn't need them anymore…" He finished his explanation and awaited Sasuke's undoubtedly volatile reaction.

"You mean to tell me," Sasuke began with a deadly calm voice, "that you took my brother's eyes, and gave them to Sakura." There was no question in his voice.

Eyes burning with rage as he glared at his teacher, he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"So," he sneered, "in order to gain my freedom, I've got to live with Sakura for an undetermined amount of time, and what? Teach her how to use the Sharingan?" Infuriated at the implications, he leapt to his feet and strode toward the bars. "From what you've said, it doesn't appear that I have a choice, do I? There's no way in hell I'm going to rot in this cage, so I've got not choice but to bow to the council's demands."

"I'm glad you're seeing things rationally." Kakashi looked at him out of the corner of his eye. He was being far too calm about this whole thing. It was only a matter of time before he exploded and Kakashi knew it.

"Now, if you agree to the terms, I can let you out and we can go visit your new roommate."

Barely suppressing his ire, Sasuke jerked his head in a short nod, indicating his assent. This whole situation was going to be so….

Annoying.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who gave my story a chance. Your time means the world to me. I've had this story floating around in my head for the past few months, and I've finally gathered enough courage to put it down on paper (figuratively, since I'm using a laptop) and share it with you.

I would like to specifically thank Sunny ver 2.0 and Jess for their kind reviews. I do have plans for this story, and it's not going to be a "Sakura is a damsel in distress and Sasuke saves the day" type of story. It's going to be a bit different and Sakura is probably going to be a little out of character, but when you live with a person, the blinders come off and you see them in their gritty, natural appearance. She's eventually going to stop putting Sasuke on a pedestal and see him for the *ahem* a**hole he really his *chuckles*. On the other hand, by being forced to be around Sakura constantly, Sasuke is going to have to re-evaluate how he interacts with other people, and maybe remove the stick that's been jammed up his ...

I guess time will tell how things progress.

Also, I'm going to try to update at least once a week, depending on how much these crazy kids fight me on this entire scenario haha.

Once again, thank you for reading this, and I hope to hear from you and what you think. Reviews keep me motivated and favorites make me smile.


	4. Chapter 4: Sins Too Easily Forgiven

Chapter 4: Sins Too Easily Forgiven

Upon exiting the detainment center, Sasuke noted that it was dark outside. The air had that special kind of stillness that one associated with the dead of night. Since his cell had been sorely lacking in windows or any way of keeping track of the time, he wouldn't have been surprised in the least if it had been three or four o'clock in the morning.

Steps echoing in the empty streets, he sullenly followed his old teacher toward the hospital. Glancing around the village, he noticed that not much had changed in his absence. It was a bit strange, though. In a way, he had hoped that the village would have reflected the changes he himself had undergone, but sure enough, much remained the same. Granted, there were a few new shops here and there, but overall, the village was exactly as it had been when he left it so long ago.

"Before we get your assignment underway," Kakashi suddenly said, "there are a few things you need to know about Sakura's condition."

"Hn." Sasuke knew that this conversation was inevitable, so it was probably best to just get it out of the way, so he could get this whole fiasco over with.

"The nature of her initial injury was a malignant form of chakra corruption," Kakashi tonelessly explained. If Sasuke hadn't known better, he would have assumed that he didn't really care what had happened to the pink haired kunoichi. But he knew how his mentor viewed his comrades and how it must have eaten him alive to have one of his direct subordinates fall into such a state.

"Her attacker went specifically after her eyes," the jounin continued. "We're not sure the how or why of it because Sakura has been unconscious for the past week, but now that she's regained consciousness, we can get a more detailed report from her.

"From what Lady Tsunade has gathered, the foreign chakra infected Sakura's own chakra network and began to poison it, turning her own chakra against her, slowly killing her from the inside out. The spread was designed to be slow - and excruciatingly painful." He paused for a moment, lost in the memory of Sakura writhing on the ground, clawing at her own eyes in a futile attempt to relieve the pain. Shaking his head to clear the demons dwelling there, he continued. "Luckily, when we arrived at her location, the spread hadn't advanced very far, but it was steadily making its way through her optic nerves and into her brain. When we came upon you and Itachi," Sasuke flinched at the mention of his treacherous older brother, "I made the decision to remove her eyes and replace them with Itachi's, in an attempt to halt the corruption and buy us some time to get her back home."

Sasuke had to wonder, though. He knew that Kakashi had experience in this sort of field surgery, since that was how he had obtained his own Sharingan. But did that mean that Sakura would be like Kakashi? He had full use of not only the Sharingan, but the Mangekyou Sharingan as well. Would Sakura be able to use it too? It pissed him off, if he was to be honest with himself. If anyone had earned the right to wield the Mangekyou Sharingan, it was –

"SAAASUKEEEEE!"

Whipping around toward the bellowing scream, he knew exactly who would be stupid enough to yell so obnoxiously in the middle of the night, no doubt waking everyone in a ten block radius.

"Really, Naruto?" Kakashi could only shake his head at the predictable antics of his student. "I thought you were told that Sasuke's return to the village was to be kept a secret until all of the details had been put into place and a cover story approved of. What part of 'top secret' don't you understand?"

"Well, I happened to see you guys walking and I figured that had all been taken care of already, seeing as the prick here isn't in chains," Naruto responded with a grin, crossing his arms behind his head.

With a sigh, Sasuke glared at him. "That still doesn't give you a reason to scream my name in the middle of the night, for the whole village to hear. Moron." Turning, he continued walking down the street, wishing for this night to be over with already. "How did you know I was getting out tonight, anyway? I didn't even know until Kakashi came and let me out."

"Ha!" he loudly laughed, "If I can't figure out something as simple as that, I have no right to call myself the future Hokage!"

"You parked yourself outside the prison and waited, didn't you?" Seeing Naruto's grin falter, Sasuke smirked. "Tell me, how many nights have you been lurking outside, waiting for the right time?"

"…. Nevermind that." Naruto hastily changed the subject, knowing that Sasuke would never let him live it down if he knew that he'd been spending every night since their return camped on the roof of the building facing the prison, waiting for his best friend to be released. "Where are you guys going now? Escorting this bastard home? You do realize, Kakashi-sensei, that his old apartment is in the opposite direction, right?" He pointed down an alleyway opposite them.

"No, you loser," Sasuke retorted, "We're going to the hospital."

Naruto perked up. "You're going to see Sakura? She's awake?" He started running full bore toward the looming building ahead of them. "What are you waiting for? Let's go-"

Yanked backwards by a fist on the collar of his shirt, he fell to the ground and looked up at his exasperated sensei. "What gives, Kakashi-sensei? Sakura's probably waiting for us to show up!"

"Naruto," he murmured, "not only is it the middle of the night, but she _just_ woke up. She's probably not going to be up for much socializing, especially your special brand of it. Go home. You can see her tomorrow, once she's had a chance to give her mission report and for Lady Tsunade to begin her rehabilitation."

"But Kakash-"

"Just let him come," Sasuke interrupted the ensuing tirade. "You know you can't keep him away for long, so it's best if he gets it out of his system now before he does any irreparable damage – especially to our eardrums."

Groaning in resignation, Kakashi wiped his hand down his masked face, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. "Fine. But you can't stay long, Naruto. Sakura needs her rest for the ordeal to come."

Confused, he cocked his head. "What ordeal?"

With a sadistic smirk on his face, Sasuke responded, "When she's released from the hospital, Sakura will be living with me while I help her gain control of her Sharingan."

Leaving him indignantly sputtering behind him while Kakashi explained the conditions of his release, he recalled the last time Team 7 had been together. It had been months ago, but the memory of that encounter was a bit fuzzy.

He remembered his run-in with his "replacement", blowing a hole in the hideout's roof while trying to kill the pasty-faced bastard, and Sakura running out into the crater to attack the bastard. Narrowing his eyes, he recalled the way she didn't even notice he was there; she was too focused on screaming at her new teammate about betrayal. He had gotten pissed that she completely ignored him and said only her name, immediately cutting her tirade short.

The look of pure shock on her face had been priceless. Even now, he could clearly recall the way her eyes widened and her lips shaped his name in a breathy whisper. She had definitely grown up, he had acknowledged while looking her up and down. Her hair had still been worn short, but he admitted that the style suited her; it drew attention to her leaf colored eyes. Eyes that even then stared up at him with hope and despair in equal measure.

The hope in her eyes had filled him with nothing but contempt. Looking back on it now, Sasuke was surprised that her expression had affected him so adversely. It was as if just by seeing her face, his mind was predisposed to despise her. He had always known that she was weak and a hinderance to him, but that level of animosity had been unwarranted.

When Naruto had barged onto the scene, Sasuke's shoulder had really begun to ache, as if in response to the boy's presence. When his replacement began spouting some nonsense about the bonds he had shared with his old team, the only thing that he had been able to think about was his own weakness. Those bonds had been nothing but a noose around his neck, which was why he had severed them. The only bond he had wanted was the bond of hatred he had shared with his brother.

Considering his previous stance on the matter, it was a bit odd that he had so easily fallen back into old habits with Naruto. Turning his gaze to look at the loud-mouthed blond, he remembered how he had blatantly told him that the only reason he had spared his life was because he refused to follow in his brother's footsteps.

In reality, it had been a difficult decision not to kill him. Everything in his mind was screaming at him to kill the boy. The curse mark on his shoulder had been causing him tremendous pain, stabbing at his mind and obscuring his intention to let him live. When the pain had been too much to bear, bringing Sasuke to his knees, he had been inches away from Naruto's face. That closeness had been enough to light a beacon in his mind and clear the poison coursing through his thoughts. He had let his rival live because he just couldn't murder his best friend in cold blood. He just couldn't do it. But he could never admit to that weakness.

 _How could he be so forgiving,_ Sasuke ponders, looking away from the brash ninja who was still yelling at Kakashi about the unsavory arrangement between Sasuke and Sakura. On more than one occasion, Sasuke had tried to kill him, but it was is the moron didn't care. Nobody could be that tolerant.

Finally tired of listening to the loser's constant nagging, Sasuke stalked up to him and with one swift motion, pinned the idiot against a nearby wall by his shirt.

"Would you just shut up already? There is nothing you can do about it, so you belly aching about it is only going to be a waste of your time and do nothing but piss me off." With a jerk, he brought him right up to his face, snarling, "Do you think I like this any more than you do? You're not the one who has to live with the harpy. You're not the one who has to take care of the weakling while staring at the eyes of your family's murderer in her face every… single… day…"

Silenced by the venom spewing from the Uchiha's mouth, Naruto miraculously shut his mouth. He hadn't thought about how Sasuke would handle the whole thing. He only cared that Sakura, _his_ Sakura, was going to be living with the anal-retentive asshole.

Releasing his shirt with a shove, Sasuke stormed off, calling to Kakashi to hurry up and get this over with.

Naruto realized then that he would have to keep a close eye on his teammates. There was a distinct possibility that between Sakura's temper and Sasuke's resentment of having to keep seeing his brother in her, they could very well end up killing each other.

 _They're lucky I love them both so much_ , he chuckled to himself, rushing to catch up with the others as they entered the building in front of him.

 _Next time, on Truth -_

 _Sakura's blindfold comes off, she learns of Sasuke's deal, and she gets some unexpected visitors._

 _-_ Thank you everyone for reading this tale I have to tell. It has taken me by the throat and won't let me go, so I'm pretty much posting as soon as I finish a chapter, just so you all can enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Considering this is my first attempt at writing PERIOD, the response I've gotten so far makes me so happy.

That being said, I've already got the next chapter finished, so if you were to leave me some words of encouragement (or constructive criticism, please, I want to know how to make this story the best that it can be), I may be persuaded to post the next chapter before Tuesday. Leave me some love, and you too shall be rewarded 3


	5. Chapter 5: Eye Opening

Chapter 5: Eye Opening

"Shishou." Sakura's voice trembled as she asked, "Whose eyes did he replace mine with?"

"Itachi Uchiha's."

Her mind went blank. She could hear the blood rushing through her veins, her breathing begin to accelerate, her palms dampen with a cold sweat. She was still alive, but there was no brain activity to be found. Her entire world screeched to a halt with that simple name, compassionately uttered by the sannin.

Shaking her head to get the gears inside it moving once more, she wiped her sweaty palms on the coarse blanket covering her legs in a superficial attempt at regaining her composure. "Excuse me, Lady Tsunade, I think I may have misheard you. It sounded like you said that _Itachi Uchiha_ 's eyes were the ones that had been implanted in my skull." She gave a quiet, borderline hysterical chuckle as she waited for her denial.

"That's right." Her stomach dropped at the answer she got. It was not the one she had been silently praying for. "Sakura, you have to understand, it was the only way to save your life. We had no choice."

Her rapid breathing almost drowned out the pounding of her heartbeat reverberating in her chest. She could feel her heart beating against her ribs, trying to get out and escape from her reality. Her senses lost focus until all she could do was feel. Feel the lack of oxygen in the room as she desperately gasped for air. Feel her head spin as her hysteria made her light-headed. Feel everything spiral out of control as panic consumed her.

"I can't have Itachi's eyes!" she shrieked. "I don't want them! Take them out! I don't care what the consequences are, I refuse to have anything to do with that butcher! I can't -"

"SILENCE!" Tsunade bellowed, her voice echoing in the in the confined space of the hospital room. The sheer volume was enough to silence the distraught kunoichi's deranged ramblings. "Sakura, there's nothing that can be done. Too much time has passed and those are now _your_ eyes. They are firmly integrated into your chakra network. To remove them now would be extremely dangerous and you may not survive. It wasn't easy to heal the damage that had been done and those eyes saved your life. Be grateful you're even alive."

Cowed by her teacher's reprimand, Sakura unwound her taut muscles one by one. Taking a deep breath, she consciously slowed her breathing and her heart no longer pounded against its bony prison. Concentrating on her no longer erratic breathing, her mind switched into the clinically efficient medical mode necessary to stay detached in the face of the sheer horrors she had witnessed in her profession. Shamed at her unprofessional and frankly unnecessary outburst, her face flushed, she inquired of her teacher, "So, what now?"

The tell-tale clicking of her teacher's heeled sandals was so loud when compared to the utter silence falling upon the room. Listening as her teacher seemed to cover every square foot of walking room as she gathered her thoughts, Sakura could only wait, her throat tightening with every staccato beat striking the linoleum floor.

"For now, we'll take the bandages off and assess your vision. If necessary, we will heal any damage done to your eyes until you're able to function normally. After that, you will be staying with a…" she paused, garnering Sakura's attention, as well as suspicion, "caretaker to help you acclimate yourself to not only your eyes, but to using the Sharingan as well."

Sakura gasped. They expected her to use the Sharingan? That was asking a bit much of her, if she was to honest. "I don't have a choice in the matter, do I? The council found out about my situation and they're salivating over themselves at the prospect of another Sharingan wielder, aren't they?"

Given the actions taken by the council in the past, it surprised her little that they were so adamant about her rehabilitation and future training. To have another Sharingan user was too much of a golden opportunity for the ambitious old crones to pass up, regardless of how unethical and potentially dangerous the means of getting it was. The council was not known for being conservative when it came to plays of power and securing every viable resource in the name of protecting the village. The fact that Naruto was the Nine-tail's jinchuuriki could attest to that.

"Yeah," Tsunade replied, her clipped response voicing her disapproval. "The council declared that the only way that Sasuke Uchiha would avoid life in prison would be for him to help you master the Sharingan and ideally, the Mangekyou Sharingan too."

Her stomach twisted as she sucked in a sharp breath. If there was anybody she didn't want to see – figuratively of course because she was still blinded by the gauze wrapped around her head – it was Sasuke. She wasn't prepared to face his wrath at having his hated brother's eyes in her head. He would only resent her for it, regardless of the fact that it had been a situation far beyond her control. He was supremely proud of his Uchiha heritage, and for her – in his opinion, a weak, emotional, liability of a kunoichi – to possess the Mangekyou Sharingan (something Sasuke hadn't even unlocked himself) was sure to jam the stick that was shoved up his ass all the way up into his throat.

Already anticipating the vile insults he was sure to hurl in her direction, she clenched her fists tight against her blanket. After everything she had been through lately, no matter what her feelings for the stoic Uchiha were, she would have very little tolerance for any animosity he directed toward her. She was not the same girl he walked away from three years ago. She had come too far and sacrificed far too much to be swayed by the opinion of one asshole of a male. Let him try to intimidate her and bend her to his will. Hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Tsunade's tell-tale heels approached her bed once again. "Alright, let's get those bandages off and see what we have to work with."

Resigned, Sakura leaned forward and the mednin begin unwinding the bandages from around her head. Subtly, light began filtering into her eyes, her eyelids clenched tight against the invasive light. The change may have been subtle, but it was extremely painful after not using her eyes for over a week. _Well, I guess technically I've never used these eyes,_ she twisted her lips into a wry, self-depreciating smirk.

Finally, the last wrap fell away from her face and Sakura clenched her eyes closed as hard as she could. The light permeating her eyelids was blinding, sending fireworks exploding through her skull. When her eyes were bandaged, she could move her eyes behind their lids with relative ease, but when factoring in the sudden barrage of light, any movement was excruciating.

"I know it hurts, Sakura," Tsunade consoled, "but you need to try to open your eyes so we can see what we have to work with. We need to assess the damage before we can begin repairing it."

"I'm fully aware of that," Sakura snarled. "You can't really expect me to be able to open my eyes right away after being blinded for a week."

Silence followed her outburst as Tsunade gave her time to adjust. Slowly, ever so slowly, Sakura cracked her right eyelid open. Hesitating for a moment, she blinked repeatedly. When her eyes were closed, she could tell that the lights were on in her room due to the brightness behind her eyelids, but that was all she could discern. When her eyes were open, the room became brighter, but that was the only difference. Letting her gaze fully open, she looked around the room, trying to process what she was seeing. Or better put, what she was _not_ seeing.

"Lady Tsunade, there's something wrong." Panic made her voice shrill. "I can't see anything. All I see is a blur of light." Gazing around the room, there was a bright blur to her left, what she assumed was the door out into the hallway. There was a light blur covering her legs – the blanket – and to her right was a greyish blob that she surmised was her teacher.

"Relax, that's to be expected." Tsunade had assumed this was going to happen, considering the atrocious shape the donor eyes had been in when they had been transplanted. "They're not going to work very well right off the bat," she reassured her. "You just have to keep trying to focus and eventually, you'll grow used to them."

Disbelieving her teacher, Sakura once again tried to concentrate chakra to give her eyes a quick once over to assess the damage for herself. She gasped at how low her chakra reserves were. And she hadn't even been using her chakra for the past week. It was unthinkable for her tank to be this low.

"Why is my chakra so low? Even with me setting aside a majority of it into my yin seal, it's impossible for it to be this drained."

"That's because your Sharingan has been active the entire time you've been unconscious, drawing chakra to remain turned on. If you didn't possess the chakra control you do, your new eyes would have drained you dry and you would have died."

Stunned, Sakura blinked a few times to moisten her eyes. "Can I try healing them a little bit? Maybe now that I'm conscious, I'll be able to turn them off," she reasoned hopefully.

"First, tell me what you can see now that you've had them open for a few minutes."

Impatiently, she looked around the room. "To be honest, not much. I can tell you're standing over there," she pointed to the Tsunade-shaped blob by her bed, "but other than that, it's all just a blur."

"Alright, let me look at the damage now," her teacher persuaded as she stepped up next to the head of Sakura's bed, heeled sandals announcing every step.

She closed her eyes as the medic's cool hands rested against her temples, ghosting against the soft hairs that grew there. Soothing chakra entered her system, weaving its way throughout her body, releasing the tension previously held there. Thankfully, under the healer's gentle ministrations, the pain pulsing in her head began to abate. With a sigh of relief, she sagged against her headboard.

After a few minutes of healing, Sakura vision began to change. She now could discern colors. Shapes were still extremely blurry to her, but her vision was definitely improving.

With one final flash of green, Tsunade's healing palms dimmed and she removed her hands from her student. "How is it now?" she inquired.

"Better," she admitted honestly. "The pain is gone, and I can see color now, but everything is still very blurry."

"Hmm…" Tsunade sounded perplexed. "The damage Itachi caused his eyes must have been much more severe than I anticipated."

Tilting her head, Sakura asked, "What do you mean?"

Turning her back to pace the room once more, she explained. "The price the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan requires is that continued use renders its wielder blind."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Then you mean, Itachi's vision was _this bad?_ "

"Yes."

"Even with the Sharingan activated, this was all he could see?" She was amazed. If she was seeing the world as Itachi saw it, he was even more impressive that anyone truly gave him credit for.

"Yes. He probably had his Sharingan activated constantly just so he could even see this much," Tsunade surmised. "Without his Sharingan, he would have been completely blind."

Once again, Sakura was floored. And impressed. For such a dangerous and deadly shinobi, one who was peerless when it came to abilities, to be this blind… It was unthinkable.

"Can we do a full exam now, or do you have more questions?" She turned her head to focus her gaze on her master.

"Let's do it."

After running a litany of tests, the two mednins determined that while Sakura couldn't see anything further than 2 feet away from her face, she could see relatively well extremely close up. This prompted Sakura's request for a mirror. She wanted to know what her new eyes looked like, since she was stuck with them for the rest of her life.

The sannin walked into the adjoining bathroom and returned quickly, offering a hand mirror to her pupil.

When she gazed into her reflection, she recoiled and thrust the mirror away. Even though they belonged to her now, those eyes had caused her nothing but pain and despair. Taking a few calming breaths, she raised the mirror again to look once more.

Crimson clashed with pink. Unused to the color combination, she blinked a few times to clear her vision. Every time she blinked, she was expecting to see seafoam green greet her sight, but unfortunately, eyes the hue of freshly spilt blood looked back at her, three tomoe creating a subtle pattern in the iris.

Lost in her perusal of her newest feature, Sakura was oblivious to the approaching footsteps. Tsunade, however, knew that visitors were to be expected and grabbed the mirror out of her hand.

"Heads up, Sakura," She warned. "You've got company."

Alerted now to the approaching noises, she faltered. "Who is it?"

With a chuckle, she walked to the door and slid it open. "You'll see…. Kind of."

"Very funny," she retorted. She had to admit, Tsunade's poor attempt at a joke took the edge off of her anxiety at having visitors.

Until three figures darkened the threshold. The hallway lights illuminate them from behind, allowing her to vaguely see their distinct coloring.

The first was an assault on her tender vision with his yellow and orange color scheme. "Naruto," she sighed in relief to see her best friend and teammate. If there was one person who she could rely on to find the bright side to any bleak circumstance, it was her ramen-obsessed, fashionably challenged loudmouth of a teammate.

The middle figure was taller and his silhouette reminded her of a pineapple. No guessing who that one was. "Kakashi-sensei." The grin she wore made her cheeks ache as she greeted her squad leader.

The last one stood silently as she greeted the previous two. A blur of black and gray, he was a bit harder to recognize. "Sai?" He was the only logical guess when taking his companions into consideration. Though it surprised her for him to come visit her in the hospital. Maybe he was doing more research on appropriate emotional responses to various social situations.

The blur twitched minutely, but even with her vision impaired, the Sharingan she now possessed was enough to pick up that tiny movement.

"God, you are so annoying." The shadow's acidic reply was enough to banish any doubts about who that last person was. There was only one person in the five great nations who talked to her like that. Only one person who could easily cut someone to the bone with just one scathing sentence. Only one person whom she would never have believed would come to her hospital room to visit her.

Eyes widening in surprise, she quietly whispered, voice shaking, "Sasuke-kun?"

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Still incensed at her mistaking his identity for his sorry excuse of a replacement, Sasuke said nothing in response to Sakura's questioning whisper. All he saw was the red of her eyes as they stared incredulously at him. Seeing them in her face was a perversion of the basest sort. It was an abomination and he could no longer stand to gaze upon it.

Striding into her room with barely restrained fury, he stalked to the window and stared out into the night, fully intent on ignoring everything around him. Unfortunately, by trying to tune out the people in the room with him, he became hyper-aware of their conversation.

"Sakura! You're finally awake!" Naruto's yell bounced off the walls and struck Sasuke like a physical blow. "We were so worried about you. When you didn't wake up, even Kakashi-sensei began to worry."

Rapid-fire clicking followed as the Hokage stormed across the room toward the obnoxious blond ninja. The resounding smack that followed brought a minute smirk to Sasuke's face.

"Owww! What was that for, Granny?!" His indignant howl made his teeth clench. Did the idiot only have one volume setting: obnoxiously ear-shattering?

Whirling to face the idiot, he growled menacingly, "Would you shut up? We are in a hospital and it is the middle of the night." His fury somewhat released upon the unsuspecting moron, he turned his focus on the window once more, checking it for structural inconsistencies. _It would be so simple. All I would have to do is just open it and jump. I could be out of this hell hole before they would even have time to blink_. He sighed and rested his forehead against the barrier, the cool glass fogging with his every breath. _If I hadn't given my word that I would do this, I'd be gone already._

Turning around a final time, he leaned against the window behind him, resigned to watch the drama unfold.

"Naruto, could you come over here and sit with me?" Sakura sweetly asked. "That way, if you feel the need to have any more unnecessarily deafening outbursts, I can knock you out, and save the rest of us the trouble."

He gulped in response, but cautiously made his way to her bedside. "How ya feelin', Sakura? Have you gotten used to 'em yet?" He nodded, indicating her eyes.

With a sigh, she blinked up at him, eyes unfocused. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Even from this distance, he could tell that even though she was looking at Naruto, she wasn't _seeing_ him at all.

"How much can you see?" He blurted his question without preamble. The need to know just how much his brother's condition had deteriorated was crippling. Screw being tactful and taking into consideration that she had _just_ regained consciousness. He HAD to know the truth.

She turned her gaze on her teacher, asking permission to reveal the truth of her condition. When she nodded, Sakura remained silent. Her vision was bad enough that she hadn't seen the small gesture.

"You can tell him, Sakura," Tsunade nodded once again. "He's going to have to know your condition if he's going to be of any use to you."

She thickly swallowed, fists clenched on top of her legs. Silence dragged on as she stalled for time, gathering her thoughts. "I can see colors, and I see mostly blurs, but my vision clears when I'm looking at objects within two feet of my eyes. Anything beyond that point I can't see."

Sasuke's knees grew weak. It was worse than he had thought. His brother hadn't been visually impaired, he had been fucking blind! Enraged beyond comprehension, he stormed out of the room, calling out, "I'll be in the lobby. Come find me when you're done, Kakashi," as he slammed the door shut behind him.

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The silence he left behind was deafening. His reaction wasn't as bad as she had anticipated, but it definitely wasn't going to help when they were going to be forced to spend a lot of time together in the very near future.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Kakashi's amused drawl broke the tension in the room, bringing a smile to her lips.

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "At least he didn't leap at me, kunai drawn, attempting to kill me for soiling the Sharingan with my tainted blood."

Her old sensei chucked in response to her twisted humor. "Unfortunately, I've got to stay with him, so I've got to go. You can't image the paperwork I'll have to deal with if he steps a toe out of line before he even gets settled into your place."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean, my place?"

Kakashi's visible eye widened in return as the skin around it paled. He looked to Lady Tsunade for an assist, but she was more than happy to let him try to worm his way out of the mess he just landed himself in. _Serves him right, opening his big mouth before I could warn her about it_ , she mused with a wry smile on her painted lips.

"Well, you see," he paused to scratch at his hair, mind racing to find a way to explain the situation to his subordinate that wouldn't result in her sending him through the wall, "as part of your rehabilitation and the terms of his release, it's been decided that Sasuke is going to be helping you gain control of your Sharingan."

Teeth clenched, Sakura bit out, "I already know that, sensei. I'm asking what you meant when you referred to Sasuke staying at _my place_."

Gazing once again at his superior, he saw her cross her arms under her ample chest and relax against the wall, clearly enjoying his fear. "It was the council's decision," he hastily laid the blame at someone else's feet. "The decided that the best way to not only monitor Sasuke for any suspicious activities but also protect you until you healed and gained control of your new powers was for you to stay together in an ANBU surveilled facility."

She blinked. That was not what she had expected. As the old pervert's declaration sunk in, the implications made themselves abundantly clear. "You mean to tell me, that not only is Sasuke going to be forced to help me gain control of the Sharingan – something he made painfully obvious that he finds offensive – but we have to LIVE TOGETHER?!" She couldn't restrain her anger any longer. "What makes you think that he's going to be anything but uncooperative during this entire disaster? I'll be lucky if he doesn't smother me in my sleep one night." Her volume rose to a yell as she pointed out what she had assumed would be obvious to everyone. "Sasuke _hates_ me. The only reason he agreed to this in the first place was because he wasn't given a choice."

Tsunade stepped forward. "Sakura, he did have a choice."

She scoffed, flipping her pastel hair out of her face where it had fallen during her outburst. "Forgive my rudeness, but being forced to choose between life imprisonment and living with someone you actively loathe isn't much of a choice, my lady."

"But still, Sakura-chan," Naruto chimed in, "he did make the choice. That means you're more appealing than that prison cell he was rotting in." She could hear the smile in his voice. Apparently he thought that he had just paid her a compliment.

"Naruto," her lips tight as she tried not to throttle the poor clueless bastard, "you're not helping. Shut up."

Tsunade stepped up to Sakura's side and grabbed her hand. "I know it's a horrible situation and if there was any way I could get you both out of it, I would. But the council won't budge on this and this is the only way I can save Sasuke for you."

Shaking her head in denial, Sakura blearily gazed at her teacher. "It was never about saving Sasuke 'for me', it was about saving him from himself. What do you think is going to happen to him when he processes that Itachi was blind when he fought him? How is he going to react now that he knows that his revenge was stolen from him by the very man he was exacting it from? Not only was he denied his vengeance, but every single time he looks at me, he's going to be reminded of that fact, time after time. We didn't save Sasuke. We just gave him a bigger cage to ramble around in."

Weary now from all the revelations of the day, she closed her eyes and lay down on her pillow. "Can we finish this discussion in the morning? I've had a very enlightening night and I need time to recover before you throw me to the wolves once again." Turning on her side to face away from her visitors, she listened until she heard them walk out of her room, closing the door behind them.

Once their footsteps faded, she allowed the first tear to fall. There was so much to process in so little time, and now it seemed that any future interactions between her and Sasuke would be forever tainted by the presence of Itachi looming in the foreground of each of their minds. Hopelessness washed over her as she finally succumbed to sleep, eager for the escape from reality that dreams would make.

Next time on Truth:  
Sakura sees visions of the past, Sasuke moves into his new living space, Sakura gets released from the hospital and a scathing confrontation ensues.

Merry Christmas to all. I'm posting this as a present to anyone who followed and reviewed this story. Any and all feedback is welcome. As requested, I made the chapter a bit longer than usual, so I hope you like it XD.

I'll probably be a little late posting the next chapter due to travelling for the holiday to visit family (Oh joy), but I'll get it up as quickly as I can.


	6. Chapter 6: Visions

A/N: There is some foul language and mild violence in this chapter. Not enough to warrant me changing the rating of the story, but if anyone feels it should be bumped up to 'M', let me know.

 **Chapter 6: Visions**

' _Well, this is just perfect.'_ Sasuke glared over at the shinobi walking up the stairs in front of him, escorting him to his new apartment.

After leaving the hospital, Kakashi had brought him to a more residential area of the village. Just before entering the building, he had made some excuse to leave and vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving him alone – or so he thought. Out of the shadow of the alleyway, his new babysitter emerged.

As if it wasn't bad enough that he was going to have to be baby-sat for the next year, his guardian was one who was very familiar to him.

Eyes closed to mere slits as he smiled at him, the nin's artificial smile rubbed him the wrong way, just as it had when he had first met him in Orochimaru's lair. Unfortunately, that meeting had not gone very well, probably due to the fact that the smiling ninja had been sent to assassinate him, a detail that Sasuke was unwilling to overlook.

"I hope we can get along together," Sai commented pleasantly. "I'm going to be around a lot in the future, and being a fellow member of Team Kakashi, I really hope that unpleasantness we experienced a few months ago won't taint our working relationship."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. 'Unpleasantness'? That's how this jerk saw his mission to assassinate Sasuke? But he kept his mouth shut, ignoring the soulless stare aimed in his direction. One thing was for sure, this guy was creepy as hell.

"Why are you smiling like that?" he asked, no longer able to ignore the ninja's fake façade. If he was going to have to put up with the guy watching his every move for the foreseeable future, he was going to have to at least cooperate with him, much to his chagrin.

"I've read in a book that a smile can do much to alleviate an uncomfortable situation." Sai explained. "You see, I'm sure that you may be uncomfortable being in my presence since, the last time you and I interacted with one another, we were trying to kill each other. I realized that these are less than ideal circumstances to cultivate a healthy working environment, so I wanted to put your mind at ease that I no longer mean you any harm, since my mission from Lord Danzou has been abandoned and I am no longer obligated to take your life."

As Sai continued walking down the hallway towards the entrance to the apartment he would soon share with Sakura, Sasuke could only stop in his tracks and stare at the clueless ninja in front of him. ' _Does this guy seriously think that a fake smile and a failed mission is going to just sweep everything that happened under the rug? It doesn't change the fact that a member of the Elder Council ordered a hit on me, something else that I'm going to have to deal with - eventually.'_

Brow furrowed in thought, he quickened his pace to catch up with the ROOT agent standing in front of a locked door. Withdrawing a key from his weapons pouch, Sai handed it to Sasuke and stepped aside, allowing him to open the door himself.

"I've been told to inform you that though you may hold the key to that lock, so does each member of the team assigned to watch over you and Sakura."

Teeth gritting at the reminder that he would have absolutely no privacy (even if it was just a façade) for the next year, he shoved the key into the lock and gave it a harsh twist, unlocking the door and stepping into his new home.

All in all, it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. To the right of the entryway was a laundry room, which was convenient for Sasuke, since being under house arrest meant that he couldn't leave to go to the laundromat to wash his clothes at his convenience. Across the hall from the entryway was the kitchen, fully equipped with shiny new appliances. At the end of the entryway was the common area, an open floor plan containing a dining area and a separate sitting area. The sitting area had a secondary entrance to the kitchen and was fully furnished with a set of plush black couch and loveseat and a tv stand against the far wall. Flanking the tv was a pair of bookshelves, already stocked with what appeared to be medical texts and a few fiction novels. And, if he wasn't mistaken, Sasuke could see a set of very familiar novels tucked in the bottom corner of one of the bookshelves, no doubt donated by Kakashi. Walking down the only remaining hallway, he peered in a doorway to his left, finding a study, apparently set up for Sakura's use if he were to go by the numerous scrolls and medical paraphernalia littering the desk. Closing the door behind him, he glanced across the hall, into a bathroom. Nothing of interest to see in there, he continued down the hall and met with a set of doors on either side of the hall. Choosing the left door, Sasuke opened it and found a bedroom.

This room was obviously meant for Sakura. A decent sized bed dominated the room, already made with crisp white sheets and a pale pink comforter. Next to the bed was a small table holding a lamp and a single framed photograph. Curiosity tugging him forward, he slowly strode forward, grabbing the frame to get a closer look. Immediately his gaze was drawn to the masked face of his first sensei, his single exposed eye crinkled in an exasperated smile. To the right, Kakashi was ruffling the hair of his obnoxious blond once-teammate who bore a grimace on his face while glaring daggers at the black haired boy next to him. Next, his eyes took in the expression on his own – much younger – face. If he was to be honest with himself, not much had changed in his expression over the past few years. His face usually still bore the scowl reflected in the picture. He honestly can't remember the last time he actually _smiled_. Honestly, with a homicidal brother responsible for the death of everyone he'd ever loved, abandoning the only home he'd ever known on his own quest for power, and being under the tutelage of an insane rogue nin who had an unnatural obsession with Sasuke's body.

With a humorless chuckle, he finally turned his gaze at the face he'd been avoiding looking at. Sakura's bright smile was almost blinding when compared to the rest of the faces in the picture. Her innocence and naivety radiated from her very being. It was hard to believe that this girl could have become the protégé of the fifth Hokage. Oh, he'd heard the stories, listened to the rumors whispered in the halls of the Sound base. Whether they were true or not was a different matter altogether. There was no way the Sakura he had known could be credited with the defeat of a member of the Akatsuki, but that's what had been murmured behind covered mouths.

Shaking his head with disbelief, he gently replaced the simple wood frame. Turning to inspect the rest of the room, he noticed a simple cherry wood dresser in the corner topped with a simple mirror. There was a sliding glass door which he assumed led to a balcony on the far wall, and a set of closed folding door, hiding a closet. His perusal complete, he turned on his heel and nearly ran into Sai.

"I don't think Ugly would really appreciate you going through her room before she even has a chance to look at it herself," he commented with a grin.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business," he snarled, brushing past the silent ninja to storm across the hall into his own sleeping area and slamming the door behind him.

He didn't really know why, but there was just something about the boy he left in the hall that just straight up pissed him off. Whether it was his fake expressions, their shared history of violence, or the idea that he had been replaced by his former teammates, it didn't matter. If he had to deal with the boy for the next year on a daily basis, there was sure to be bloodshed.

Rolling his shoulders to relieve some of the stress gathering there, he glanced around the space he would claim as his own. The first thing he noticed was the Uchiha crest on the far wall. His eyes widened. He recognized that crest. It had hung over his bed in his old apartment.

"Naruto made some suggestions on how to make your transition back to the village easier."

Whipping his head around, he saw Sai standing in the open doorway of his room. Dammit, how had he not heard the door open? "Did I give you permission to come into my room?"

With a chuckle, the young man glanced around the room. Simple to the point of being militaristic, the only furniture in the room was a full bed covered in black bedding and a black dresser against the far wall. He noticed that this room had a door leading out to the balcony as well, but was covered with dark grey curtains. In fact, the color scheme in the room was so monochromatic that the only splash of color was the crimson of the uchiwa hanging on the wall.

"We seem to have a misunderstanding here, Uchiha. You think that you have any control over what happens in this place." He shook his head, bemused. "You don't. You are only here because the council decided you are too valuable to kill. That doesn't mean we care about your comfort. You are going to be under constant surveillance and if any one of the operatives detect even the slightest hint of insubordination or resistance from you, we have already been given the green light to remove that threat. You may be considered too valuable to kill, but if you prove to be too much of a threat, well… Necessary sacrifices will be made."

The implication behind his threat was clear. Toe the line or the council will erase him.

"Well then, traitor," Sai began with a smile plastered on his face, "I'll leave you to get settled." He turned on his heel and began walking down the hall. Sasuke didn't bother to see him out. But before he heard the front door close he heard the asshole call back to him, "Just remember, we'll be watching."

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 _Opening my eyes, my gaze rests upon the dry, cracked rock under my hands. My vision is blurry around the edges, but I can clearly see my hands. Except, those aren't "my" hands at all. My hands are pale and feminine with short nails and callouses on my knuckles from hundreds of hours of extensive strength training. These hands, the ones currently holding up my bodyweight, these hands are masculine, with purple nails and a red and gold ring on the right hand. These are DEFINITELY not my hands._

 _I blink as a splash of blood pools between my hands. I ignore it for now as I push myself up to my knees and look across the rocky expanse at my opponent. It's Sasuke! He's beaten and bleeding, but there's no denying that the man glaring at me in with gritted teeth and pained eyes is Sasuke. As I take in his desperate expression, his entire appearance changes. The curse seal on his shoulder melts across the rest of his body like flame consuming paper. His hair lengthens and fades from ink black to a storm-cloud gray. Where once was porcelain skin, now a stony hue replaces it. Across the bridge of his nose, a black marking bisects his face, drawing attention to the most disturbing change – his eyes. The whites of his eyes are now jet black, soul less, and filled with rage, the once black irises taking on the color of freshly spilled blood. This_ _ **creature**_ _is not Sasuke. This thing I gazd upon is an abomination, the final result of a life devoted to revenge and a thirst for power._

 _During Sasuke's twisted transformation, the air around me had turned orange and began to flicker, as if I was standing in the midst of an inferno. I know that I'm seeing a visual manifestation of chakra. Around me, a spectral skeleton forms. A blazing ribcage encases me, tinting my vision with crimson. I can see Sasuke's mouth move as he speaks to me, but unfortunately, I am only able to see my surroundings, not hear them. He's too far away – and my vision is far too hazy – for me to decipher what it is that he says. But clearly whatever he is saying to me is not complimentary in the least - if his snarling face is anything to go by._

 _Frustration at my lack of control growing, I watch helplessly as Sasuke doubles over in pain, clutching his own body and clearly struggling against something. Dropping to his knees as the pain grows to be too much for him to handle, I can only watch idly as a hoard of white snakes erupts out of his left shoulder. What the hell is happening to him?!_

 _It's like something out of a legend. Sasuke's mouth is slack as he screams in silent agony. The snakes grow and grow until a multi-headed beast is looming over me, its snow white scales glistening in the sunlight and fangs from its many mouths dripping poison. I had never seen anything like it before in my life, and as a kunoichi of the hidden leaf and apprentice to the fifth Hokage, I've seen many fantastic sights before. The markings around the beasts' eyes remind me of another evil snake: Orochimaru._

 _I'm not sure why his foul name whispered in my mind as I look at this horrific creature, but that detail became unimportant to me as I watch the monster get closer and closer to where I stand. I walk forward to meet the creature head on, my spectral bodyguard wrapping around me with every step that I take. In the space of a heartbeat, one of the bleached heads lunges toward me and without hesitation, the being protecting me severs its head from its body with a single strike of its flaming blade. I'm not sure where the blade even came from since my eyes are trained on the writhing abomination before me and I can only see the sword out of the corner of my eye. Another strike from my blade sends several more serpent heads flying. The remainder of the snakes go on the offensive, wrapping themselves around the glowing chakra being I'm still surrounded by, in a futile attempt to squeeze my armor to dust. One final slice frees me from my scaly prison and decapitates the last of the heads, save one._

 _The sole surviving snake rears its head back and unhinges its jaw. What is it doing now? Getting ready to attack? No, from within the depths of the serpent's throat, a dark head emerges. Long black hair and skin so pale it looks blue indicates the identity of the man, as if the fact that he was crawling out of a snake's gullet didn't tip me off beforehand. Orochimaru. My initial hunch had been completely on the mark._

 _I watch, rage filling my soul, as the man solely responsible for Sasuke's abandonment of the Leaf Village begins to monologue. For once, I'm happy that I can't hear anything, because I'm sure that if I had been forced to listen to the snake Sannin's slithery voice spew his vile filth, I would have snapped and gone on a murderous rampage. My eyes widen when, with a single, lightning-fast thrust, Orochimaru is impaled with my blazing weapon. Orochimaru seemed completely unfazed by the attack, continuing to mock me. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru's mouth stops moving, his eyes grow wide, and then, he's being sucked into my blade. What… the… fuck?!_

 _I have no idea what the hell is going on. One moment Orochimaru is looming over me, gloating over his apparent victory and the next, he's gone, leaving Sasuke behind, whole and relatively unharmed._

 _The previous attack must have taken a toll on my host. Once again I'm looking at the ground as more blood spews from me. My hand covers my mouth as I violently cough up blood. Sasuke tries to take advantage of my momentary weakness by throwing a shuriken at me, but it's easily deflected by the spectre surrounding me. I slowly advance towards Sasuke, my steps shaky and unsteady. He grits is teeth and draws his katana, the strength of his will the only thing keeping him standing at this point. His attack is easily rebuffed and he swiftly backs away from my bloody outstretched hand._

 _Finding himself trapped against a wall bearing the Uchiha clan's uchiwa crest, I can see the blind panic in his eyes as I continue to advance on him. He shrinks away from my reaching fingers, but it's pointless. He cannot avoid me. He has nowhere left to run. He's mine._

 _Except I don't kill him. I don't harm him at all. Instead of striking a killing blow, like I had anticipated, I merely poke him in the forehead with my bloody fingers. I see his eyes widen at the gesture, blood from my fingertips running down his face, before my world tilts and I fall face first into the wall behind Sasuke._

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Sakura gasped as she shot straight up in her hospital bed, her heart racing and her eyes wildly scanning the room for potential dangers. Still disoriented from her dream, her mind was still racing as she tried to differentiate between reality and subconscious. Her blurred vision did little to aid her regain her senses, but slowly, she came down from her panicked high and realized that she had only had a dream. It was just a dream. A strangely vivid and detailed dream, but a dream nonetheless.

The light shining through her window told her that it was morning, but that did little to ease her mind. As she organized her scattered thoughts, there was one piece of information that kept prodding at her: the ring on her finger in the dream. She had seen that ring before, on more than one occasion. It had been on Itachi Uchiha's finger every single time that he had confronted her team. What did it mean? Had it really been a dream, or had Itachi somehow come to her in her dreams and showed her what he had seen literally with his own eyes?

She had heard of this phenomeon before. While studying under Lady Tsunade, Sakura had read hundreds of medical scrolls and performed dozens of procedures herself. While it was only a feeling, she thought that her situation sounded a lot like what was known in the mednin community as "Cell Memory Phenomenon".

In the few cases she had read up on, when a person receives an organ through a living donor, in some rare cases, the recipient claims to experience a change in preferences, whether that refers to their hobbies, sexual orientation, or foods. In extreme cases, the donor recipient undergoes a personality change and takes on similar traits as the organ donor.

The more she thought about it, the more Sakura could feel the pit in her stomach growing deeper. If her instinct was right, it meant that she really was experiencing Itachi's memories, another extremely rare side effect of Cell Memory Phenomenon. If she was experiencing something as rare as reliving memories, there was a very real possibility that she could also take on some of Itachi's personality traits or personal preferences.

Her heart hammered in terror at the possibly becoming like Itachi in any way. He was a traitor to the Leaf. A criminal wanted by every single one of the Five Great Nations. The man who murdered his entire clan on a freaking whim and sent his only living relative down a twisted spiral of revenge and blood. The man hadn't had a single redeeming quality to him and the thought of becoming like him in any way was enough for Sakura to feel herself begin to panic.

Clipped footsteps approached her door, bringing her focus out of her own thoughts and back to reality. Recognizing the cadence of steps as they came closer to her room, she braced herself. It was far too early and she was far too frazzled to be prepared for a confrontation with her master. But the Hokage waits for no one and slid her door open with a bang, storming into the room with a sense of urgency and authority.

"So, finally awake, are we?" Tsunade remarked. Sakura could barely see, but she could definitely sense the exasperation on her teacher's face. "How did you sleep?"

Silence descended upon the small room as Sakura hesitated. "Milady," she began. "I have a hypothetical question for you."

Tsunade's eyebrow rose. Usually her student was blunt to the point of being offensive. She wasn't one to beat around the bush. So her obvious hesitance intrigued the older woman. "Go on," she encouraged.

"Hypothetically speaking, if a person who receives a donated organ were to say, dream about the donor's memories, how likely would it be that the recipient would experience other related side effects of the transplant?"

Shock jolted through her body at her student's murmured inquiry. To say Tsunade was surprised at this line of questioning would be an understatement.

"Sakura, are you saying that you dreamed Itachi's memories?" Tsunade was incredulous. The ramifications of such a thing could be utterly disastrous if anyone found out about it. To think that someone as innocent and loyal as Sakura had Itachi's memories rattling around her brain was shocking. On the other hand, depending on what Sakura "remembered", it could potentially give Konoha inside access to the Akatsuki, something they sorely needed.

"I'm speaking hypothetically," Sakura reminded her. "I'm not saying such a thing did or did not happen. I know what that information could mean to the village, and I am not ready to deal with the consequences of something like that, even if it were to happen."

Tsunade sighed, shifting her weight to her hip and crossing her arms under her chest. "I understand, Sakura. It's true that if you were to be seeing Itachi's memories through your transplant, the council would be after you for information before you could snap your fingers. And you're right, you're in no condition to have to deal with the interrogation squad, even if it is through something outside of your control." She easily acknowledged her student's trepidation, but as the leader of the village, it was her responsibility to use every tool at her disposal to protect it too. "Just allow me to remind you of the serious threat the Akatsuki poses. They are after Naruto. They've already captured and extracted at least six of the tailed beasts. It won't be long until they come for Naruto too. We need every advantage we can get if we're to stand a chance against them, Sakura."

Sakura looked away, her sensei's words cutting into her like a knife. She knew the stakes. She probably knew better than most. She had been there when Gaara was found dead. She had stood against the Akatsuki, had fought – and defeated – one of their members. She knew exactly how deadly powerful they were. "I'm fully aware of the threat the Akatsuki pose, Lady Tsunade, perhaps even more than you do," she growled. "However, I don't know what is happening to me right now. Not only do I have my messed up vision to deal with, I've got to not only learn how to use the Sharingan, but I've got to deal with Sasuke, too. You know that he is going to be difficult and unpleasant throughout this entire ordeal, and that's putting it lightly. I have enough on my plate already without adding on Itachi messing with me from beyond the grave. So, forgive me for my disrespect, but quite frankly, milady, I am not going to be telling anyone a damn thing until I'm ready, because I am not going to be manipulated into backing down on this."

Tsunade blinked in surprise at the vehemence in Sakura's attitude. _I guess she's finally reached her breaking point_ , she mused to herself. "No one is going to manipulate you into anything, Sakura-"

"Just guilt trip me, then. Don't think I didn't notice how quickly you brought Naruto into the conversation to play on my fear of him getting taken by the Akatuski," she retorted.

Reaching a hand up to massage the tension brewing behind her forehead, Tsunade sighed in resignation. "I'm not trying to guilt you into doing anything either. I'm just trying to protect the village."

"I know that," she acknowledged. "Can you just answer my question, please? If I was seeing Itachi's memories, how likely would it be for me to develop his personality or become like him in any way?"

Carefully considering the question, she began pacing around the room, gathering her thoughts. "You have to understand, Sakura, there are so few of these kinds of cases, I honestly can't tell you whether it will or won't happen. We just have to play it by ear and see what happens."

Giving her mentor a baleful stare, Sakura scoffed. "That's hardly reassuring."

"It wasn't meant to be."

Glancing out the window, Sakura tried to find the silver lining to this particular rain cloud. "So, when can I get out of here? No offense, but I prefer being the one holding the clipboard, not having my name on one."

With a chuckle, Tsunade walked to the foot of her bed grabbed the clipboard Sakura had mentioned to glance at her progress. "I can probably get you out of here tomorrow, barring any unforeseen complications." Sakura visibly brightened at the news. "But you'll still have to come by daily for me to work on your eyes. They're still not close to one hundred percent, are they?"

Sakura gave her a blank stare. "Hardly. I can see much better since I first woke up a few days ago, but they're still pretty hazy. Plus, with the damned Sharingan constantly activated, my chakra is being drained as fast as I can replenish it." She looked away and mumbled to her teacher, "How much longer until my eyes are fixed?" She waited patiently, knowing that the answer she got may not be the one she wanted.

"I'll be straight with you, Sakura. It may be a long time until your eyes are completely healed. The damage Itachi did to his eyes would be damn near irreparable to anyone but me. I've got to go in and repair each individual optic nerve, as well as each connection to your nerves as well. There's a lot of work to be done and not a lot of time to do it. I'm doing the best I can, but you've got to be patient. If he had seen a healer while he was alive, his eyes wouldn't be as bad as they are now, but I think that he didn't want to admit that he was going blind. It would be a huge weakness that his enemies could exploit, after all."

"Is there anything I can do? Can I work on it myself?"

She contemplated this suggestion briefly. "Make a scalpel blade," she demanded.

With furrowed brows, Sakura did as she was told, chakra glowing off her hands in a gentle wave.

"Good, your chakra network has stabilized and the Sharingan doesn't appear to be affecting you too badly." She tapped her chin as she thought about it. "I don't see why you can't work on it yourself, but as you are already aware, the Sharingan is constantly draining you and will continue to do so until you learn how to turn it off. I don't recommend using more than ten percent of your chakra daily. We don't know how much the Sharingan is taking from you just to stay active, so until you can deactivate it, no training and no extensive healing, understand?"

"I understand." Sakura could hardly contain her excitement. Not only was she getting out of her own personal hell (in the form of being trapped in the hospital as a patient), but she had been given the green light to begin working on her eyes. Things were definitely looking up for her. The only blemish on the situation was that when she left the hospital, she got to go home to a surly prick a serious attitude problem and a grudge against her. _Oh well, nothing's perfect._

Thank you for reading. I apologize for not updating sooner, but with the holidays and dealing with frozen pipes (thank you global warming for giving me -25 degree temperatures while I'm out of town so my pipes freeze and I don't find out until I come home with my young daughter), I didn't get much time to write as I would have liked. This chapter gave me some trouble because Sakura was not cooperating with me. Sasuke is easy because he's just bitter and hates everything, but Sakura is giving me a hard time with how she feels about this whole situation. I do know that even though she's happy to have Sasuke back in the village, she's not going to be very patient with his emo-ass being a prick to her for things in the past and things beyond her control. So I'm looking forward to her getting fed up with his attitude and putting him in his place.

I hope you all can kind of see where I'm going with this story, and what's going to happen (to some extent), but I don't want to be cliché about it. I'm trying to keep it as canon as possible, but obviously there's going to be some things that deviate from the canon-verse.

If there's anything you want to see specifically, let me know and I'll see what I can do to make it happen. Reviews go a long way to keep me motivated to keep this story going. And on that note, I'd like to give a special shout out to **cinnamon0325** for their repeated reviews. Thanks for the feedback and I hope I can live up to everyone's expectations.

 ** _Next time on Truth:_**

Sakura finally gets released from the hospital (I know I planned on having that happen in this chapter, but the storyline didn't let that happen), moves in with Sasuke, and makes a mess of things (literally and figuratively). Plus, a confrontation with the Council of Elders puts our duo on edge as suspicions take root about the villages illustrious leaders.


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